TORONTO—Going against the pleas of teachers to negotiate the terms of the Putting Students First Act, the Liberals adopted the act in full on Tuesday. The act prevents teachers from striking for the next two years and freezes wages.
Through the act, Dalton McGuinty’s government promises to save taxpayers some $2 billion over the two years. The act is said to be one of the many solutions to combating Ontario’s multi-billion dollar deficit.
Although met with much resistance from the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and other teachers’ unions, the Liberals have secured contracts with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and French language teachers. The associations in agreement comprise around 55,000 teachers in Ontario.
“This legislation is another way our government is taking strong action to put students first and to maintain Ontario’s reputation as a world leader in publicly funded education. We’re working hard to protect the extraordinary gains we’ve made together in education over the last nine years,” Ontario’s Minister of Education, Laurel Broten, said in a release.
ETFO president Sam Hammond, however, responded to the legislation with his own release, underlining that teachers will not give up fighting for their democratic rights. He urged public school elementary teachers to participate in “McGuinty Mondays” and “Take a Pause” days.
These means of protest advise teachers to refrain from participating in voluntary activities during after-school hours, including any clubs or coaching teams. McGuinty Mondays urge teachers not to participate in any school-based meetings.
“We do not take this action lightly. Ontarians and the government need to know that you cannot take away the democratic rights of working people simply to fulfill a political party’s agenda or ideology,” said Hammond in the release.
The ETFO represents some 76,000 teachers.
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